The Effectivity of Several Botanical Insecticides to Control Powder Beetle Pests (Sitophilus zeamais M.) in Corn Seed

Abstract

Sitophilus zeamais M. is an important pest of corn in storage which can cause damage of around 30-100%. S. zeamais pest control can be done with the application of botanical insecticides. This study aims to determine the effect of botanical insecticides on pest mortality and their effectiveness in controlling S. zeamaispests. The research method was carried out with a factorial Completely Randomized Design (CRD) consisting of 2 factors with 3 replications. The treatment used botanical insecticides, neem seed powder, soursop seed powder, and lemongrass stalk powder with various concentrations of 4%, 8%, and 10% on 100 g of corn seeds. The variables observed in this study were mortality of S. zeamaisimago, repellency, number of F1 imago, intensity of damage, and germination. The data obtained were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA), if the results were significantly different, then proceed with the DMRT significant difference test with a significance level of 5%. The results showed that the interaction that was effective for mortality was soursop 8% (90%), while for repellency the neem treatment was 8% with a repellency of 93.33%. The interaction of 10% soursop powder was effective in suppressing the number of F1 imago (3.67 insects) and seed damage (3.33%). The lowest seed weight loss was in the treatment of soursop powder (1.56%) and a concentration of 10% (2.89%). Botanical insecticides did not affect the germination of corn seeds.